Radiesthesia or Dowsing: The science of radiation detection. The word is derived from two Greek words that mean "rod" and "divining." Dowsing is another word long in use that defines the ability to successfully employ a divining rod.

Dowsing is an ancient technique for finding things and getting answers by harnessing and amplifying our natural innate senses and abilities, such as electro-magnetic reception. These are the same senses that animals rely on for finding direction, food, each other and that every human possesses but usually lies dormant.

Dowsing has been used to find sources of underground water, lost objects and as a method of divination to receive answers for questions for which the answers are a variety of choices. This method has also been useful to map out the location of ley lines and energy vortices.

There are 2 common types of dowsing tools: pendulums and dowsing rods. What most people overlook is that the most important dowsing tool is yourself; with enough practice a person can dowse without the need of any external tools, but until then it is very easy to learn and use these tools.

Pendulums

In a nutshell, a pendulum is a weight hanging from a cord or chain. There are plenty of fancy pendulums available for sale in the market; some of them are very nice with custom crystals and hidden chambers. Fancier does not make better.

You can create your own pendulum out of approximately 6 inches thread with a hanging needle or a chain and pendant, basically any hanging weight. My crystal quartz pendant and chain tend to be my favorite pendulum and its always with me when I need it. Both store bought and home-made pendulums are just as effective, its a matter of taste.

Dowsing Rods

Just like with a pendulum, dowsing rods are available in stores or you can make them yourself. Dowsing rods come in two types, L shape and Y shape. The L shaped rods are 2 L shaped wires, usually made out of copper, you hold one on each hand and their movements provide you the information that you seek. Theres even a compact pocket version of L shaped rods available in the market that take up very little space in the paranormal tool kit.

The Y dowsing rod is traditionally a forked branch but nowadays you can buy them made out of copper. They work by holding them on the forked ends and the pointed part points to the ground as if pulled downward by an invisible string when youre above the energy, water, or whatever it is that youre seeking.

I personally prefer to purchase my own dowsing rods in the L shape, but once again its a matter of taste. For the DIY type of person, you can create your own set of dowsing rods using a wire hanger that has been stretched open, cut in half and having each half bent into an L shape. You will then place the short part of the L on a straw or a cardboard tube to serve as your handle while still allowing the rods to swing freely as you hold them.

How to dowse

I find the pendulum to be the most versatile dowsing tool, it can be 'trained' to oscillate up and down and to rotate either clockwise or anti-clockwise to give you answers depending on your needs. Hold the pendulum on one hand (usually the one you write with) over your other hand with the bottom palm facing up or over a pendulum chart. Ask the pendulum to please show you yes, the pendulum will move in a specific pattern. Once youve noted the pattern, you can then ask the pendulum to please come to rest. The pendulum will then gradually slow down until it rests. You can then proceed to ask it to show you no using the same procedure above. This process is not necessary if youre using a pendulum chart for the chart will tell the pendulum which way is yes and no. Youre now ready to ask it questions. Don't be put off by people who say "Your hand is moving!" at this point, a strongly rotating pendulum will certainly make your hand move.

On your first try youll want to start by asking a question for which you already know the answer before you move on to other questions. It is recommended that you always ask the pendulum to show you yes and no at the beginning of each session as the method of response may change from time to time. For example, a yes answer may be a clockwise movement one day and an up and down motion on the next one. With dowsing rods, you will use the same technique as with the pendulum, but instead of rotating, the rods will open or cross to indicate the response.

So what does this all have to do with paranormal research? Dowsing is yet another method that you can use to gauge the presence of energy in a place and even communicate with spirits. It is not as fancy and sophisticated as modern scientific measuring equipment but in my personal experience it has been demonstrated to be just as effective as the modern gadgets and you dont need to carry extra batteries for it. Every time Ive had the modern equipment such as ELF meters, thermometers, cameras, etc agree with the pendulum or dowsing rods indications because theyre both measuring the same fields; different instruments, same results.

How to use dowsing in a paranormal investigation.

With a pendulum:

There are 2 main ways to use a pendulum in a paranormal investigation. The first way is to ask the pendulum to show you yes and no and then you can proceed to ask questions such as: is there a spirit entity present in this place and in this time? or any other variety of questions that can be answered with a yes or no answer.

The second method is to program the pendulum using your intent to show you where there is a concentration of spirit energy. With this method the pendulum will just hang until paranormal or spirit energy is present at which point it will start to oscillate and the speed and intensity of its movement correlates with the intensity of the energy as its movement will be strongest when directly over the source of the energy.

In the beginning, I recommend that you refrain from using the pendulum outdoors during windy conditions and make sure that you walk slowly and steadily so as to avoid potentially contaminating the responses. However, with enough practice and experimentation you will notice that the pendulum will still be accurate in windy conditions or while briskly walking as its movement defies yours.

With Dowsing Rods

Using your intent, ask the dowsing rods to cross whenever you walk over an energy vortex or concentration of spirit energy. Make sure that youre specific as to which type of energy youre seeking and the rods will discriminate against man-made sources such as electrical fields. You can also ask the dowsing rods to point you in the direction of the spirit energy.

Have fun experimenting, dowsing makes a great addition to any paranormal investigators toolkit and at the very least it will help you find your missing keys!